Dutch international Downey Van der Beek's transfer to Manchester United is already a foregone conclusion, and he has become the pride of the whole village in his hometown, and his fellow villagers are very proud of him.
This is not media hype, but van der Beek's father, Andrei himself, who said that his son can join Manchester United, which is a dream come true.
André van der Beek told the local newspaper Omroep gelderland: "It's a dream come true, and our village in my hometown is very proud. Now is the perfect moment for him to take this step and join such a beautiful club, but Ajax will always keep my heart. A lot of clubs are interested, but Downey made his own choice."
Since his 2015 debut, Van der Beek has played for Ajax 175 times and has been selected for the Dutch national team 10 times. The Oranges teammate and Liverpool iron guard Van Dijk also congratulated him: "I have no intention of making him change his mind, I just wish Downey all the best." It's wonderful for him and for Dutch football, with another Dutch player joining a Premier League club."
Growing up in Van der Beek, there was a familiar name in international football that could not be left out – Dennis Bergkamp. The Ice Prince is not only Van de Beek's coach, but will also be his father-in-law in the future.
By the time Van der Beek was only 10 years old, Bergkamp had already discerned his talents, discovered his talents, and personally cultivated him to become the star of football today. Otherwise, according to van der Beek's mother's plan, the son should honestly be a farmer in his hometown!
Former Ajax manager Frank De Boer confirmed that it was Bergkamp who recommended van der Beek to him. "Dennis began enthusiastically introducing a talented teenager on his youth team." "He said the child reminded him of his peer self, and from that time on, I paid attention to this young man, his name was Downey [Van de Beek]."
Ruben jongkind, former Ajax youth director, also confirmed that Bergkamp has a lot of respect for Van der Beek. "Bergkamp admired Van der Beek when he was 10 years old, 'This child is going to be a great instrument,' and I remember myself replying, 'I can't see it at all, how do you know?'" 」
Van der Beek was born in Nijkerk, the Netherlands, where he was known for his developed agriculture. Xiao Fan lives on a farm and often helps her parents with chores such as feeding chickens and ducks. His mother, Gerdina, had no interest in sports, and seeing Van der Beek climbing trees all day, she felt that her son was destined to raise cattle and be an ordinary farmer when he grew up.
But his father, Andre, had a different plan, and he signed his son to the local team "veensche boys". Andre recalls: "After his first training session, he became obsessed with football and could no longer live without balls in his life."
When Van der Beek was 10 years old, well-known teams such as Feyenoord, Eindhoven and Utrecht sent invitations, and he chose Ajax because his family fans all had season tickets for the team.
After joining the Ajax youth system, Yugin immediately found that van der Beek Jr. needed to improve his strength. "We had a rigorous physical training for him, and he needed that practice because he was a farmer." "Dutch farmers in that area are physically strong, but that's different from what is needed on the pitch," Yugin said. He benefited a lot from these trainings, some of our coaches used to play American football, some of them practiced judo."
In addition to Bergkamp, the godfather of Dutch football, John Cruyff, also admired Van de Beek's ability. The late Ajax and Barca legend once gave Andre a ticket: Your son will definitely make a name for himself.
"John [Cruyff] said, 'I know your son, yes.' His name was Downey van der Beek, and he was good at this, he was good at that...", the elder Van der Beek recalled, "He knew everything about Downey, do you know how strange it is, your idol actually knows all about your son?" He can even say some amazing details."
But Bergkamp's influence on Van der Beek was the greatest, and not limited to the pitch, and he also mated his daughter Estelle Bergkamp to his beloved.
Van de Beek has been dragging on with Bergkamp's daughter for a year, and although Estelle is a year older than him, she is now in vogue. The British "Sun" said that the two established a relationship last summer, and then continued to show their love on social networking sites.
On August 3, Van der Beek sent a photo of himself and Estelle Bergkamp under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, writing: "Today is the anniversary of our year in love."
Although Bergkamp played for Arsenal for 11 years, the British "Daily Star" revealed that the Ice Prince also encouraged his future son-in-law to join Manchester United.